1 year (2013). Signed by Pittsburgh as a free agent 2/12/13 (minor-league contract). Salary of $1.25M in majors. If not on Major League roster, may opt out of contract in late March. May request release 3/26/13 if he will not make Major League roster. $0.1M retention bonus if he agrees to start season in minors. May opt out of contract 6/1/13 if not on Major League roster. Contract purchased by Pittsburgh 3/27/13. DFA by Pittsburgh 7/23/13. Released 7/30/13.

2 years/$11.5M (2011-12), plus 2013 club option. Signed extension with Detroit 10/21/10. 11:$5.5M, 12:$5.5M, 13:$6M club option, $0.5M buyout. DFA by Detroit 7/20/11, sent outright to Triple-A 7/26/11. Contract purchased by Detroit 8/20/11. Released by Detroit 4/26/12. Signed by Oakland as a free agent 4/30/12 (A's pay pro-rated Major League minimum, or about $414,066, with Tigers responsible for balance of 2012 salary).

BP Chats

I am looking at having to start Giovatella or Raburn at 2B in my AL-only league this year. Is this the year Raburn finally puts it together?(cooldude from Mpls)

I hope so. I have him at MI in CBS AL-only. Coincidentally, I have Giovatella at 2B too. Ramon Santiago doesn't pose much of a threat, but apparently Brandon Inge is looking pretty good at 2B, and he could cut into his time. As a cheap MI in AL-only, his power upside makes him worth the gamble, but this Inge news is certainly disconcerting. (Derek Carty)

Did the Rangers really screw up by not trading one of Salty, Ramirez and Teagarden when their values were all high?(rwinter from Boston)

In the sense that they didn’t trade prospects who flopped, sure. You could say that about every team and every prospect who flopped. Did the Angels err in not trading Brandon Wood when he was a top-10 prospect? In retrospect, of course, but there was no way of knowing that.

Out of those 17, there are basically one and a half every day catchers, maaaaaaybe another one in Hank Conger, and a DH. We thought the Rangers had three catchers, plus Gerald Laird. In fact, they had Gerald Laird.

Also:
2007 Baseball Prospectus Annual: “When Teagarden is behind the dish, he’s one of the top defensive catchers around. If he can stay there, he’s Mickey Tettleton with defensive chops.”
2008 Baseball Prospectus Annual: “If you want to get really dreamy and optimistic, think Mickey Tettleton with Gold Glove-level skills, and you get the picture.”

What do you see in Scott Sizemore? I’m weighing keeping him as one of my 15 MLB keepers in a 14 team H2H points league. This is not the most exciting keeper choice in the world but I don’t want to be stuck drafting the likes of Brandon Inge again or wasting an early pick on a below average player. 3B is such an ugly position to fill if you don’t have an elite player.
Do you see him being materially better than his career line to date (.236/.325/.372, 13 HRs in 156 games)? If not, then he’s just a replacement-level player in my league as the top 3B available in this year’s draft were players like Betemit, Tejada, Encarnacion, Peralta, Freese, Polanco, etc.. Because of his youth, perhaps he’ll continue to improve? Where do you see his near-term ceiling while I wait for the likes of Will Middlebrooks and Cheslor Cuthbert to mature?
FWIW, he's battling players like Sands, JD Martinez, Altuve, Brandon Allen and Guerra for that last keeper slot.(ORWahoo from Oregon)

I like Sizemore, but only in deeper leagues. He just doesn't have enough power or speed to really be an asset in mixed leagues. I think double digit homers and maybe a small handful of steals, but I don't see 20 HR or 10 SB from him next year. And he strikes out a lot, which will cause him to rely on a high BABIP to post a good average, which will be difficult to maintain without great speed. I think decent power without a good average or speed makes him a tough guy to endorse for anything other than an AL-only league play. (Derek Carty)

They're being paid about the same, who do you like more at third base? Brandon Inge or Placido Polanco?(singledigit from rainy San Diego)

I'm assuming the third option is a hole in my head, because I'm not wild about either for more than place-holding purposes. Inge can be a great defender, but he's not very valuable against right-handed pitching. Polanco at least provides positional flexibility, so I'd favor him. (Christina Kahrl)

I would rather have Lopez at 2B and Inge at 3B than Lopez at 3B and Skip at 2B. We're not talking about a massive improvement here, but the Reds and Cards will be jockeying for the division the rest of the way and anything that constitutes an improvement that won't drastically hurt the payroll is worth pursuing. (Eric Seidman)

Steve, I'm enjoying BP2010 so far, but noticed it seems a little edgier than usual. Your intro in particular seems to be a little harsh towards Bill James. And why does Brandon Inge get "points for toughness", but Jed Lowrie is "stupid" for playing through pain? Lowrie was trying to achieve his dream of making it to the majors while Inge was already there and could have rested knowing he'd still have a spot on the major league roster whenever he heeled.(DanDaMan from Sea Cliff)

There was no intention to be eddy; the authors said what they said and I don't try to impose my judgment on them beyond reigning in comments that are just inappropriate in some way, and that is a very rare occurrence. I will point out that there's a significant difference between Lowrie trying to hit through a wrist injury and Inge trying to play through knee problems. In the former case, there's not a lot of hope of it working out; in the latter at least the equipment works from the waist up.

Now let me say this about the intro and Bill James, because this also came up in a couple of Amazon reviews: I'm stunned, honestly. What I was trying to do was encapsulate the state of the "industry" (such as it is, or was) at the time that BP came into existence. It was not my intention to say anything critical about Bill, whom I revere. Without Bill pioneering this field, none of us would have these wonderful jobs that we have, where we get paid to watch, write, and talk about baseball. I know that my career got its start specifically because my first publisher was looking for another Rob Neyer, whose own career owes its start to Bill (my answer: "I can't be a second Neyer, but I can be the first Steven Goldman," and apparently that sufficed). Our debt to Mr. James is so obvious as to not need stating, certainly not in that place. (Steven Goldman)

Hey Joe. I had a question about one of my Tigers, the hot-hitting Brandon Inge. He's going to revert back to the Inge of old (hitting .250 with a little pop) soon, right? Or can we expect him to keep a decent bat for the rest of the year?(David from Winston Salem)

He's fundamentally a different hitter this year, walking more and striking out much, much less. You so rarely see a change like this. I would project that he regresses a lot, but if the gains in plate discipline are somewhat real, he could hit .270/.345/.440 from here on out. (Joe Sheehan)

Hey Will,
Crank up The Mill!
Are the Tigers really caught in no-man's land at this point? While the decision to be buyers or sellers is a difficult one for this team, there's not really much they could do, in terms of improving or dumping, anyway, right?(Ryan from Atlanta)

They are in a tough position, but they're smart and creative. I think they could do a number of things that would help themselves if they choose to. They could deal Ivan Rodriguez for help, plug Brandon Inge in, and see what happens. They could deal Todd Jones or Joel Zumaya, given the reliever market. Never count out the Tigers. Dombrowski et al have proved themselves time and again. (Will Carroll)

If you were the Detroit Tigers, how would you deal with the Brandon Inge situation: trade him for whatever someone's willing to give you, hold out for something of value, keep him as a supersub, hold on to him and make him next year's catcher? (Ben from Ohio)

Inge doesn't seem to want to catch, and at $6.2 million he'd make for a pricey utilityman. He's a capable fielder, but pretty valueless as a hitter except for providing pop off the bench, and he's unhappy to bood. I'm not sure the Tigers have many good options; I'd trade him for just about anything I could get. (Jay Jaffe)

Whats your take on the Brandon Inge soap opera in Detroit.(joe from n.y.)

Well, given his three straight years of offensive decline, his age (he'll be 31 in May), and what he's owed ($6.2M, $6.3, $6.6 for a total of $19.1M) it's not so surprising that the Tigers have found few takers and with his defensive prowess seem to be looking at him in a super-sub kind of role. The question will really be whether he'll accept that role or turn into a clubhouse cancer that forces them to eat much of the remaining salary.

As far as the soap opera around his asking to be traded and not speaking to a reporter recently, I certainly don't blame him. He's in a pretty tough spot and any competitor at that level wants playing time

As an aside, defensively (using SFR) I have him at -6, +4, +20, +9 since 2004 at third base which pretty much parallels FRAA (+6,+15,+25,+14). Miguel Cabrera, on the other hand, I had at +0, -1, -5, -10 in 2003, and 2005-2007 at third base. (Dan Fox)

Thanks for taking questions! To expand on the "Soviet" recruiting methods, would it behoove an MLB team to screen all of its draftees for pitching potential? Troy Percival and Rafael Soriano come to mind as successful converts. Maybe the Tigers would find that they could use the strong arm of Brandon Inge for occasional mop-up duty as part of his super-utility role.(havybeaks from Michigan)

I think it's done, kind of. Not in any sort of systematic way, but organizations know who has a cannon at short and they know who pitched in HS. (Interesting thought ... Latin players tend to be classified one way or the other quickly while American players tend to go both ways through HS and even college. Is there an advantage to either side?) (Will Carroll)

John, which is likely more important for Detroit this year: Miguel Cabrera's added offense over Brandon Inge, or Dontrelle Willis successfully adjusting to the AL and posting numbers at least similar to '06 (if not better). Thanks for your thoughts.(Yoop from Ankeny, IA)

Cabrera's offense. No slight to Willis, who could really help the Tigers, but Cabrera is one of the game's premier hitters. He makes an already-dangerous lineup downright scary. (John Perrotto)

no takers for Brandon Inge? I understand the locals overrate him because he's a nice buy but surely someone can spare a box of baseballs?(DetroitDale from Florida)

Well, the Tigers shouldn't just give him away, but I honestly don't get why the Marlins didn't ask for and get him on top of the rest of that package. And the money to pay him, because let's face it, the Fish were robbed. (Christina Kahrl)

BP Roundtables

To bring a more recent Padres player (and former Tiger) into the discussion, his ability to play catcher could make Brandon Inge a nifty Robert Fick type... a game a week behind the dish, and then fill in at third and a corner as needed. (Dave Pease)